Help

My friend and animal rescue colleague Janice was evacuated tonight, the fire has spread into her neighborhood across from the Huachucas. I have three of her dogs and she’s coming with more. Two of the dogs are fosters.

I was going to do a separate post on these two small dogs, but now that they’re here at my house, here’s the story. A man had cancer. He was at home and very sick. He begged his wife to keep his two small dogs, which she did…until THE DAY he went into hospice. Then she dumped them just as fast as she could. Bitch. They are two small five-year-old chihuahua mixes, sweet and loving. We don’t want to separate them as they are best friends—they eat, sleep and play together. I introduced them to all my dogs and after the usual initial doggie who-the-hell-are-you meet and greet, everybody’s doing fine. They have no interest in my many cats. They need to be neutered, we just haven’t had time.

The cat pictures are of Gracie, the cat left behind at a foreclosed home we rescued in May (see Foster Cat of the Week). Gracie was a bag of bones when I got her, now she is healthy, has been spayed and is ready to go. She is extremely loving, wants to be in your lap, and purrs a lot. She picks fights with my other cats but she loves dogs. Border Animal Rescue paid for the spay and has had to lower the adoption fees for both cats and dogs—cats $30, dogs $50. There are just too many. All animals are fixed and given rabies shots before adoption.

9500 acres burned so far in the Monument fire, still raging. 40 homes damaged or destroyed. Power down. Evacuations continue. Today I worked in Old Bisbee and saw tiny pieces of ash floating everywhere in the air, 25 miles away. High winds today and tomorrow make the fire spread faster and hinder the slurry helicopters and the crews. There are tears and anger here. Where are the troops? Where’s the money? Fires, tornadoes, floods—where is the help for America in her time of need? In the Mideast. I am numb with rage.

Please see my last three posts for many more pictures of the Monument fire.

Monument Fire Update June 18th: 20,000 acres burned, 50 homes destroyed, 12,000 people evacuated. Wind gusts of 50-60 mph today. Extremely dangerous conditions for the firefighters and pilots. It’s also very, very hot. Chaos, anger, tears here. At least now the papers are admitting it’s “human caused.” It will never go any further than this.

There’s an article in local news source called “Impact on Wild Animals Affected by Fire” but there’s NO WAY I can read it.

Sun trying to shine through smoke from Monument fire over Bisbee 6-16-11.

Smoke from Monument fire, picture taken on Naco Highway near my house 6-16-11.

Two loving 5-year-old male chihuahua mixes need home. Chico on left, Coco on right. They both get along very well with dogs and cats. Coco is the darker one.

Two loving male chihuahua mixes up for adoption. They are very interactive with each other and with their humans.

Two chihuahua mixes need home. Funny, curious, playful. There have been a few grumbles, but everybody’s doing really well for the first night. I just made everybody go-lie-down so the two new ones can have some freedom to explore without being followed around. Jasmine would prefer to bite their little heads off, but she will do no such thing. In a few days she’ll accept them, for now, I watch her and she knows it. It’s time for me to step up to the fostering, altering, and adoption of these dogs, Janice has major stress right now.

22 responses to “Help”

Dum Dum wishes he could give (or find) these guys a home. They look lovely. The fire has finally made it to online news over here, but as for the BBC, If it isn’t the Fucking X Factor or some other pointless crap, it ain’t news. Debra, those pictures are getting worse. I really hope that somehow, this will at least slow down enough to give people a chance. For God’s sake, take care everyone!

Thank you DD. The smoke does seem darker. I’ll have to find out about that. I think the winds will have to die down first before it slows down. Containment will take weeks if not months—the Wallow fire started May 29 and is only 29% contained as of June 16. Thanks for your comment and for your funny assessment of the news.

Altough we live in Ontario Canada we consider the southwest our second home during the winter & especially your area in Cochise County. We have many pleasant memories of where two of those fires are burning now. The Huachuca’s & the Chiricahua Mountains. It is all sooooooo sad to see those areas being destroyed by fire. The two little dogs you have are so adorable & look so much like our little Motormouse. Wished we were closer to give them a home. We just lost both our 13 year old Border Collies this past April. We are familiar with the Vet clinic on the Naco highway.. By the way, I share your views about religion!!

Janice’s voice is gone because of the smoke. The fire continues to spread, they are doing controlled burns to save neighborhoods across Rt. 92. We are shorthanded and need federal help. I wish they would let citizens help but they won’t, it’s too dangerous. The Chiricahuas are called the “Wonderland of Rocks” as I’m sure you know. Absolutely unique place. The Chiricahuas and the Huachucas are called “sky islands,” as I’m also sure you know. The creatures who live there can only survive in that ecotone. After these ranges are destroyed they figure the smugglers will just continue down the border. Although the Wallow fire is believed to be started by campers, the other two fires were started when the parks were closed. There are even reports of border patrol seeing smugglers start the Monument fire. You’ll need to find a new place to winter!

What gets me the most is how cruel she was because animals mourn the loss of their owners. So, now they are confused what happened to him, removed from their familiar surroundings, and missing their owner. Bitch.

I’m lucky I don’t have a house because I would be having you send all those sweet animals to me! I hope they find a home together soon. I also hope Gracie does too, she is sweet. Hopefully those fires will end before it wipes out the entire state.

Hi Marita, Gracie really needs to go to a home with no other cats. At first she was fine with them, but now she starts fights with them. I need to find a home for her as soon as possible. I can’t stand the fighting and have no separate place to keep her (I’m anti-crate.) She does just fine with a big pack of dogs though. I can’t put her outside because I have outside cats too.

I read a lot about fires last night. The forests in dry climates need to be thinned but environmentalists block every attempt. Officials figure Arizona will eventually burn completely. Shocking, isn’t it. Who knew. This is a case where environmentalists have actually done damage and there is anger here over that as well as the smugglers. If anybody disputes this PLEASE TELL ME so I am better informed. Pine and conifer forests have been destroyed in previous fires here and apparently are slow to come back or don’t come back at all. I’d rather have the creatures have fewer trees but be alive. Also there is no more logging or timber cutting, which used to help keep fires maintainable. Now they say even if they did start thinning, it’s too late, we’re talking about millions of acres. Environmentalists, please comment if this is not true. I need to know the truth.

Thank you MothersHeart, the more exposure the better. They’ll get posted on Petfinder at some point too—would you believe the vet Border Animal Rescue uses for spays and neuters is in the middle of the evac area. (They’re going to fund the neuters.)

those fires sound dreadful, Debra. We hear nothing about them in Australia but I guess you didn’t hear much of our devastating bushfires in Victoria last year, or was it the year before? Hope things get better and that help pours in. Those chihuahuas are sure cute. I can;t believe what that heartless woman did. Whatever happened to respect?

No JL, we didn’t hear about the Victoria bushfires. You said a town was wiped out. Do you mean the people too? The governor declared a state of emergency here, but they’ve got their hands full with two other fires that are much bigger. I don’t know exactly what resources are available, I haven’t studied it (yet). But this Monument fire is headed toward the town of Sierra Vista, pop. 50,000. It’s chaos there now with roads closed. I don’t have to work there until early next week, only the winds know what the days ahead will bring, but we’ve been told this is going to take a long time.

I hope Chico and Coco can find their forever home together. I have three cats, all adopted from a shelter. Two were adopted ‘as a pair’ because they had bonded so well. Gabby had been feral and ‘socially inept’ and Stevie has visual problems…depth perception issues. I call him my ‘legally blind’ boy. They sleep together all the time and are constant companions.
Animals do mourn when their humans leave. I saw it with my other shelter cat. His humans lost their home to bankruptcy and kept their dog but gave the cat up. He mourned his dog companion and his family for quite some time.

You folks in Arizona have it really bad right now. That there are saints like you who care for pets is nearly beyond description and certainly way past any call to duty. Thank you very much for being so kind. I think of you often.

Bill, as I become more involved in talking to evacuees and volunteers who take in their animals, the situation is more chaotic than anyone could know. I spoke to a woman last night who took in 3 evacuated family’s dogs, and then SHE got evacuated, and she doesn’t even know where the families are who own the dogs!!! Jesus!

A network is forming to help evacuees with their animals. One huge problem is horses and cattle. Some people who have horses don’t have horse trailers. It’s a nightmare.

Everybody is remaining packed and ready to go. Janice was evacuated, then allowed back home, but told to stand by. Her difficult dogs, some of the pitbulls, must remain crated at volunteer’s homes. It’s hard to get in and out of her neighborhood because of roadblocks.

The vet where I was to take the two chihuahuas to be neutered has been evacuated. Can you imagine, with all the sick animals being treated?

Debra you are a saint.
And, a wish of a thousand fleas for those who abandon any pet.
Praying for an end soon of this horrible fire for all of you.
* Gracie looks like my Milly–My personal entertainment package!
Hang in there.
Barb

Gracie was not aggressive when she got here and is so loving to me, but she antagonizes my other cats. I love her but I can’t wait to see her find a home. I feel so bad for my cats, they are all in hiding, they don’t want to fight. She’d be the perfect companion to a family with no other cats.